15 Years Later: How the 2006 Offseason Changed College Wrestling (Part Five: The Final Six Teams)

Alright, so we said last week that the fourth part of our series on the 2006 offseason, the one that changed college wrestling, would be our final installment. We've got one more article for you. Parts one through four detailed the impact that the proverbial coaching carousel had on nine different programs. Well, 15 schools changed head coaches that year. While we're at it, we decided to look at the circumstances of the head coaching positions at the six schools previously omitted. Here are the previous four parts in the series: Part One saw us investigate the first domino that fell: Ohio State. Part Two will feature the most controversial aspect of the offseason: Iowa and Virginia Tech. Plus, Oregon State, too. Part Three will look at the other traditional power involved: Iowa State. Part Four highlights the two coaches everyone overlooked: Pat Popolizio/Binghamton and Chris Ayres/Princeton. Air Force On May 30th, 2006, Joel Sharratt was named head of the Air Force wrestling team. The position was open after Wayne Baughman retired after 27 years on the job. Sharratt, a three-time All-American and 1994 national champion for the University of Iowa, was no stranger to coaching at a military academy. He had spent the previous six years coaching at the Naval Academy as the team's head assistant coach. Navy was coming off a pair of seasons where they sent six wrestlers to the 2005 national tournament and five in 2006. Sharratt led the Falcons from the spring of 2006 until 2013-14. While in Colorado Springs, Sharratt sent 20 wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament and mentored seven champions at the NCAA West Regional. Though none went on to claim All-American honors, five Air Force wrestlers earned top-ten seeds at the national tournament while under Sharratt (Cole Von Ohlen 9/2011; 3/2012; 4/2013 and Josh Martinez 10/2013; 4/2014). In 2008, Sharratt was named the West Region Coach of the Year after leading the Falcons to a runner-up finish in the conference meet. In his eight years with Air Force, Sharratt put together a 67-62 dual record. Following the 2013-14 campaign, Sharratt returned to the Naval Academy to assume head coaching duties. He was succeeded by assistant coach Sam Barber. Under Barber, Air Force has seen a sharp uptick in the school's recruiting production. That was no more evident than during the 2021 season. Freshman 285 lber Wyatt Hendrickson advanced to the NCAA Round of 12 and nearly became the school's first All-American since 2003. Hendrickson also made the Junior World team and wrestled in the bronze medal match. Barber's teams have gone 41-44 during his tenure. In addition to plenty of young talent, Air Force returns Hendrickson and 133 lber Jared Van Vleet, who also has previous NCAA experience. Chattanooga Let's go back to the summer of 2006. Cael Sanderson and Tom Brands had already signed on to become head coaches at Iowa State and Iowa, respectively. After those two, one of the more prominent, young names on the coaching market was Chris Bono. The 1996 national champion, Bono, was brought into Chattanooga as an assistant coach during the 2005-06 season, but was elevated to acting head coach after Joe Seay left the program. In late July, Bono was named full-time head coach. This was the first head coaching role of Bono's career. Jason Bryant of Mat-Talk Online detailed how close Bono's first team at Chattanooga came to a memorable season. 133 lber Matt Keller finished in fourth at the 2007 NCAA Championships. The remainder of the squad had a stunning five others that fell in the bloodround (Javier Maldonado, Michael Keefe, Aaron Martin, Jake Yost, Matt Koz). Those performances led to a 21st place finish nationally. In year number two, Cody Cleveland earned All-American honors by taking eighth at the 141 lb weight class. That made it four straight seasons with at least one AA for the Mocs. Cleveland remains the most recent All-American for Chattanooga. Bono would leave Chattanooga to return to Iowa State as an assistant coach after three years. Chattanooga claimed SoCon titles in all three of his years as the head coach. In those three seasons, 18 wrestlers claimed SoCon titles and the team fought to a 39-17 record. The search for a replacement for Bono yielded Moc-alum Heath Eslinger. Before returning to Chattanooga, Eslinger had spent three years coaching at Bradley Central High School not far from UTC. After a fourth-place finish in 2009-10, Eslinger's Moc reeled off five straight SoCon championships. During that time, 19 Moc wrestlers won SoCon titles and Sean Boyle advanced to the Round of 12 in 2015. Eslinger stepped down to pursue other opportunities outside of college wrestling following the 2017-18 season. He amassed a 101-61 dual record and only dropped five conference duals during his tenure. About a month before Eslinger resigned, he added two-time Wisconsin All-American, Kyle Ruschell, to the Mocs coaching staff. Once Eslinger stepped down, Ruschell was given the Interim Head Coach tag. While holding the interim position, Ruschell claimed a share of the SoCon regular-season title and saw four wrestlers advanced to the national tournament. Later that year, Ruschell was named the head coach on a full-time basis. In three years leading the Mocs, Ruschell has amassed a 22-20 record. Three Chattanooga wrestlers qualified for the 2020 NCAA Championships and four made the tournament in 2021. Clarion Early in the 2006 coaching carousel, the Golden Eagles got their guy in 1998 national champion Teague Moore. Prior to coming to Clarion, Moore was an assistant coach at Harvard, Oklahoma State (his alma mater), Oklahoma, and Pittsburgh. Moore inherited a team that did not send a single wrestler to the 2006 national tournament. After a few years of building, Moore's 2011 squad featured two wrestlers that would go on to finish in the top-five at the NCAA Championships (James Fleming - 5th, Bekzod Abdurakhmonov - 3rd). Abdurakhmonov has enjoyed a remarkable international career with two World bronze medals and, most recently, an Olympic bronze. Moore wasn't able to oversee his two pupils making the national podium as he left following the 2010-11 season to take the American job. Replacing Moore was Matt Dernlan, who served as the Director of Operations for Penn State, and was a part of their first national championship team of this modern dynasty. Dernlan's 2011-12 team, led by a pair of All-Americans, finished 18th in the nation, the best national showing by a Clarion team in 15 years. After only one year, Dernlan left Clarion to pursue the Binghamton head coaching position. Replacing Dernlan on a temporary-then full-time basis was Lehigh national champion, Troy Letters. In each of Letters' two seasons, Clarion sent a pair of wrestlers to the NCAA Championships. Year one saw James Fleming earn All-American honors for a second time (8th). Letters would step down in September of 2014 with a 14-25 dual record. In searching for a replacement for Letters, the Clarion brass turned to Keith Ferraro, who was an assistant at the time. In December of 2014, Ferraro was given the interim tag was removed from Ferraro. The initial team that Ferraro inherited went 1-16 in duals and did not yield a national qualifier. Since that time, the program has been on an upward trajectory. The 2018 team fielded four NCAA qualifiers, which was the best mark for the team in 14 years. Although the 2020 national tournament was canceled, two Golden Eagles were named NWCA 2nd Team All-Americans (Brock Zacherl and Greg Bulsak). After the slow start in the transition year, Ferraro's teams have fought to a 43-47 dual record. Eastern Michigan This series has celebrated a tradition that we have grown to love; the offseason coaching carousel. Another less-fun almost annual occurrence, at this time, was athletic departments axing wrestling. That happened in 2006 when Slippery Rock eliminated their wrestling program. Alum and head coach Derek DelPorto then needed to look for a job and Eastern Michigan came calling. In year one, DelPorto guided EMU to their first winning season since 1990-91, when they went 8-7. Just a year later, the team registered their best record in school history, 15-8-1. The 2011-12 season saw the Eagles send four wrestlers to the NCAA Championships, which was the program's best mark since 1995-96. After placing four wrestlers in the 2014 national tournament, DelPorto stepped down as head coach. Replacing DelPorto was his Associate head coach, David Bolyard. A 2004 All-American for Central Michigan, Bolyard finished his collegiate career ranked in the top ten for career wins at CMU. He had spent the previous seven years on EMU's staff. Under Bolyard, Eastern Michigan was at the beginning of emerging as a potential contender in the MAC. During the 2018 season, the Eagles finished third at the conference meet, which was a program-best, and crowned their first MAC champion (Kayne MacCallum) since 2009. Five EMU wrestlers qualified for the national tournament in Cleveland, which tied a program-high, established in 1989 and accomplished more recently in 1996. At the 2018 NCAA Championships, Eastern Michigan 141 lber Sa'Derian Perry got onto the podium and became the team's first All-American since DelPorto did so in 1999. Unfortunately, three days after Perry was crowned an All-American, the Eastern Michigan athletic administration announced they were cutting wrestling and three other sports. The athletic department, led by Scott Wetherbee, endured years of lawsuits due to Title IX issues that arose from dropping some of these teams. Though the 2018 team featured five seniors, a total of five former EMU wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Tournament the following year for various schools. Utah Valley Ben Kjar and Greg Williams after the 2011 NCAA Quarterfinals (Photos/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) You may not remember, but Utah Valley's first head coach was Cody Sanderson, who led the program for its first four years of existence. Once his younger brother, Cael, took over at Iowa State, Cody headed back to assist at his alma mater. That's when Utah Valley turned to Greg Williams. A longtime club and national team coach in the state, Williams was an All-American for Utah State in the mid-'80s and had strong ties in the area. This hire turned out to be a good move as Williams is one of only two coaches on this list that has lasted the entire 15 years with his school. Williams jumped into the fray at Utah Valley while the school was transitioning into a full-scale DI athletic department. The 2009-10 season was the first year that they were a full-time member and the wrestling squad celebrated by sending its first three wrestlers to the national tournament. Just a year later, Williams saw his first pupil earn All-American honors. Unseeded 125 lber Ben Kjar knocked off the #4 (James Nicholson - Old Dominion) and #5 (Zach Sanders - Minnesota) seeds to make the national semifinals, opposite Anthony Robles (Arizona State). Although Kjar lost, he was the only wrestler to keep Robles within six points in Philadelphia. He would bounce back to grab fourth, picking up a win over #7 Ryan Mango (Stanford), along the way. In 2015-16, after the West Region (or WWC) went away, Utah Valley moved into the Big 12. That first season saw, the Wolverine second All-American make the podium in Jade Rauser (8th) at 133 lbs. Fast forward to 2018-19, Utah Valley sent a program-high six wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament and saw Demetrius Romero become the school's first Big 12 champion. More records were set in 2021 as the school had two All-Americans for the first time in the same year, with Taylor LaMont (5th at 125) and Romero (6th at 174) both getting onto the podium. Those two led the way for a Wolverine team that racked up 21.5 points, good enough for a 21st place finish, the best in school history. During his tenure at Utah Valley, Williams has a dual record of 93-116 Virginia The other remaining member of this group is Steve Garland, who was named head coach of his alma mater in late April at just 28 years old. Garland had spent the previous six years serving as an assistant on the Cornell staff and developed a reputation as a very strong recruiter. His efforts helped lay the foundation for a Cornell program that was developing into a national power. UVA's head coaching position was open after Lenny Bernstein stepped down after 13 years in early April. His final team did not have any NCAA qualifiers. It took three years for Garland to produce his first All-American, Chris Henrich. Just a few years later, Henrich would go down as the program's first three-time All-American. In 2010, Virginia won an ACC team title for the first time since 1977 and Garland was rightfully named the league's Coach of the Year. At the NCAA Championships that year, Virginia finished in 15th place, which was the highest mark in school history. The 2017 team would replicate the feat. As a competitor, Garland was only the second NCAA finalist for the Cavaliers. Under his leadership, two more Virginia wrestlers (George DiCamillo and Jack Mueller) have wrestled on the raised mat on Saturday night. Virginia has become remarkably consistent during Garland's time in Charlottesville. Since Henrich broke through in 2009, there have been only three seasons where a UVA wrestler has went without earning All-American honors. In his 15 years at UVA, Garland has established himself as the school's all-time wins leader (169-96) and the team has captured a pair of ACC titles. 19 wrestlers have won conference titles and 14 have stepped on the NCAA podium. The 2021-22 Cavalier squad is expected to consist of eight past national qualifiers, so expect for Garland's numbers to continue growing.

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15 Years Later: How the 2006 Offseason Changed College Wrestling (Part Five: The Final Six Teams)

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